Chris Whipple

But at the same time, there's a real competitiveness between them. And the Obama camp, for example, was not amused when Biden's staffers were going around early in his first term and talking about how the American rescue plan was so much bigger than Obama's stimulus package back in 2009. They're just competitive, these two camps.

And the other major factor here is that Joe Biden never forgave Barack Obama for putting his thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton to become the nominee in 2016. That was a really deep wound for Joe Biden. And in the end, it became clear that as during that fateful weekend of July 2021, that Barack Obama wasn't really there. He just wasn't there for Joe Biden.

And the other major factor here is that Joe Biden never forgave Barack Obama for putting his thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton to become the nominee in 2016. That was a really deep wound for Joe Biden. And in the end, it became clear that as during that fateful weekend of July 2021, that Barack Obama wasn't really there. He just wasn't there for Joe Biden.

And the other major factor here is that Joe Biden never forgave Barack Obama for putting his thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton to become the nominee in 2016. That was a really deep wound for Joe Biden. And in the end, it became clear that as during that fateful weekend of July 2021, that Barack Obama wasn't really there. He just wasn't there for Joe Biden.

One of Biden's closest friends told me that the thing that really got him was that Obama never picked up the phone and called him and just said, you know, Joe, geez, are you sure you're up to this? That never happened. There was a phone call earlier after the debate saying, hey, you know, it was just a bad night. Don't worry about it.

One of Biden's closest friends told me that the thing that really got him was that Obama never picked up the phone and called him and just said, you know, Joe, geez, are you sure you're up to this? That never happened. There was a phone call earlier after the debate saying, hey, you know, it was just a bad night. Don't worry about it.

One of Biden's closest friends told me that the thing that really got him was that Obama never picked up the phone and called him and just said, you know, Joe, geez, are you sure you're up to this? That never happened. There was a phone call earlier after the debate saying, hey, you know, it was just a bad night. Don't worry about it.

But when things went south and Biden was on the ropes, Barack Obama never picked up the phone.

But when things went south and Biden was on the ropes, Barack Obama never picked up the phone.

But when things went south and Biden was on the ropes, Barack Obama never picked up the phone.

Yeah, you know, this is really previously unreported. But what I learned in writing the book was that prior to that weekend when Biden made his decision, you know, up to that point, Harris had had to be absolutely scrupulous. You know, she was walking through a minefield. I mean, she had to be so careful not to give any hint that she was thinking about taking over the top spot on the ticket.

Yeah, you know, this is really previously unreported. But what I learned in writing the book was that prior to that weekend when Biden made his decision, you know, up to that point, Harris had had to be absolutely scrupulous. You know, she was walking through a minefield. I mean, she had to be so careful not to give any hint that she was thinking about taking over the top spot on the ticket.

Yeah, you know, this is really previously unreported. But what I learned in writing the book was that prior to that weekend when Biden made his decision, you know, up to that point, Harris had had to be absolutely scrupulous. You know, she was walking through a minefield. I mean, she had to be so careful not to give any hint that she was thinking about taking over the top spot on the ticket.

But the truth was that she was quietly and secretly preparing. Her camp had reached out to Democratic political operatives who were looking at the rules and getting ready and making sure that when that day came, I think they thought, that she would be ready to go. And Sure enough, she was.

But the truth was that she was quietly and secretly preparing. Her camp had reached out to Democratic political operatives who were looking at the rules and getting ready and making sure that when that day came, I think they thought, that she would be ready to go. And Sure enough, she was.

But the truth was that she was quietly and secretly preparing. Her camp had reached out to Democratic political operatives who were looking at the rules and getting ready and making sure that when that day came, I think they thought, that she would be ready to go. And Sure enough, she was.

But not only were those operatives looking at the rules and figuring out how she could grasp the nomination, they were also putting out the word to some senators that they needed to come out in favor of Joe Biden stepping aside.

But not only were those operatives looking at the rules and figuring out how she could grasp the nomination, they were also putting out the word to some senators that they needed to come out in favor of Joe Biden stepping aside.

But not only were those operatives looking at the rules and figuring out how she could grasp the nomination, they were also putting out the word to some senators that they needed to come out in favor of Joe Biden stepping aside.

Well, the number one thing was that she had to be prepared for the $64,000 question, which they knew was coming. And that was, what would you do differently from Joe Biden? And when that day came, when Kamala Harris was appearing on the ABC program The View, it was a disaster. She fumbled the answer. She was asked that very question, which she was prepared for.